Privilege 3 - Perfect Mistake (21 page)

"You sure I can't take off the shoes yet?" she asked Ariana, glancing over her shoulder.

"Not yet!" Lexa, Soomie, Kaitlynn, and Ariana all chorused, then laughed.

Brigit shook her head and pointed out a few more paintings and tapestries as they ascended the stairs. Ariana was impressed with all the knowledge she had accrued about the various artists and their styles. Brigit was a girl of many layers. Ariana liked that in a person.

"Can you believe this place?" Kaitlynn said to Ariana and Palmer, waiting for them to catch up. She eyed the paintings with a covetous glean in her eye. "It's all so beautiful."

Ariana wondered what she was really thinking. Was she planning on trying to lift one of these priceless works of art? The girl would never even get out the front door with it. But the idea got Ariana wondering . . . what exactly was Kaitlynn's task for Stone and Grave? Was it something that was supposed to happen tonight, specifically, like Brigit's had been?

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She hoped it wasn't anything that would get Kaitlynn arrested. Because if it was, they were both going down.

"Oh, look at this one, Ana," Kaitlynn said, pausing at the top of the stairs in front of a painting of two cherubs. Ariana stopped and shot Palmer a look that told him she'd catch up with him and the rest of the group. He strolled ahead slowly, keeping himself between Ariana and Kaitlynn and the rest. Clearly, he had no interest in being with anyone else. The thought made Ariana's heart flutter.

"It's great," Ariana said to Kaitlynn through her teeth. "Can we go now?"

"I just wanted to check in with you about your plan," Kaitlynn said, looking at the painting with feigned interest. "Y do realize that tonight is your

ou deadline."

"Believe me, I know," Ariana replied. She glanced back down the stairs, thinking of the ballroom. Realizing she really should get back there and get the deed done already. "I told you not to worry. I've got it all under control."

Kaitlynn slipped a sideways glance at Ariana. "Y ou'd better." Then she looked past Ariana at her friends, who were just starting to crowd into a room at the end of the hall. "Because if you don't, what happens next is all on you."

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NECESSARY

Tahira stood at the center of the ballroom, stopping every waiter who passed by and hoarding hors d'oeuvres like they were the last morsels of food on earth. Ariana had seen the girl eat before, and knew she was a glutton. It was a key element of her plan. But watching her now made Ariana's stomach turn. The girl was so slovenly, so rude, so unworthy of her position. Ariana was about to do the world a favor, really. No one needed a girl like this flitting around the globe pretending to be a role model.

The door to the hallway opened, the door from which the waiters had been emerging all night, and Ariana spotted a handsome, college--age guy in a white tuxedo jacket and tails weaving his way toward her. Ariana had been studying the waiters' movements for the last fifteen minutes or so and understood the intricate dance of their circuit. If she was right, this one would work his way along the north wall, where she was standing, then veer toward the center of the room when he hit the bar. Veer toward Tahira, Zuri, and Rob.

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It was now or never. Ariana slipped the small vial of peanut oil from her purse, stepped away from the wall, and stood in front of the waiter. "Hi," she said with a bright smile.

He looked her up and down and smiled in return. "Good evening, miss. Would you like a canape?"

Ariana was glad that Palmer and the rest of her friends were out on the verandah somewhere, taking in the view of the city. At least no one had to see her flirting with the help. Not to mention poisoning their classmate.

"Sure," Ariana said, plucking one from his silver tray. "But I really just came over here to tell you that your shoe is untied."

"Oh, thanks," he said, placing his tray down on the end of the bar behind her. "I guess it would be bad if I tripped and showered all the dignitaries with canapes."

"Probably," Ariana replied, her heart pounding.

As soon as the waiter crouched down, Ariana turned and dumped the peanut oil all over the canapes. By the time he had realized neither of his shoes was, in fact, untied, and stood up again, Ariana was looking in the other direction as if nothing had happened.

"Nope. I'm good," he said.

"Huh. I could have sworn I saw a shoelace trailing behind you," Ariana said, lifting a shoulder as he picked up his tray. "Maybe it was one of the other waiters."

"I'll keep an eye out," he said in a friendly way. "Enjoy the party, miss."

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"Thanks. I definitely will," she replied.

Especially if you go where I'm hoping you'll go right now, she added silently.

Sure enough, the waiter hooked a left and headed toward Tahira and her friends. A few people grabbed canapes from his tray along the way, but there were plenty left when Tahira reached up to select one from the tray.

"There are no peanuts in this, right?" Ariana heard her ask, just as she'd been doing all night. "Because I am deathly allergic."

"No, miss. No peanuts," the waiter replied.

Ariana was surprised by the lump that formed in her throat as Tahira brought the hors d'oeuvre to her lips.

This has to happen, she told herself. It's the only way. She threatened you. Threatened to expose you. And once she's gone, you, Kaitlynn, and Brigit will all sail through and into Stone and Grave. This is the only way to protect yourself and to make sure Kaitlynn gets everything she wants.

Tahira popped the canape into the gaping maw of her mouth and crunched down. Almost instantly, her eyes widened and her hand went to her throat.

"Tahira? What is it? Are you choking?" Zuri cried.

Tahira shook her head wildly. Her hair tumbled free from its updo as she shoved her bag at Rob. "Pen . . . EpiPen."

The people around them started to back away in fear and disgust, forming a small circle of open floor around the trio. Ariana endeavored to swallow but found that she couldn't. She could hardly watch this, but she also found that she couldn't look away.

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"Oh, shit. She ate peanut," Rob said, fumbling into her bag. He pawed through it as Tahira lurched forward, bent over at the waist. "It's not here!"

Tahira's eyes bulged. Clearly, she could no longer speak. People in the crowd were murmuring, alarmed. Ariana heard someone ask for a doctor. No one moved.

"What?" Zuri cried, clinging to her friend's arm. "It has to be! She always has it!"

"You think I don't know that?" Rob dropped to his knees and dumped the purse out on the floor. "It's not here!"

Tahira's knees hit the floor and Zuri let out a strangled cry.

Ariana closed her eyes and turned her head, her throat tightening. What was wrong with her? This had to happen. Why was she being so dramatic?

"Omigod! Help!" Zuri screamed. "We need a doctor! Someone help!"

Ariana took a breath. It was always difficult to watch someone die. Even those people who deserved it. Of course she was upset. But this was necessary. They had all been necessary.

"Please! Please, help her!" Zuri cried, tears streaming down her face as Tahira choked and gasped. "Call nine--one--one!"

Finally, a few people shoved through the crowd. A wiry gentleman with white hair raced forward and grabbed Tahira's wrist, checking her pulse. Ariana held her breath. She found she didn't know what to hope for.

"An allergic reaction?" he asked.

"Do something! She can't breathe!" Zuri cried.

"She needs an EpiPen," Rob said, getting up from the floor. "Does

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anyone have an EpiPen?" he shouted, wheeling around. The ladies and gentlemen in the crowd looked at him like he was a lion on a rampage. "Someone here has to have one."

"Here!"

Suddenly Ariana's bag was ripped from her grasp. Kaitlynn yanked out the EpiPen and, without a second glance at Ariana, rushed toward Tahira, who was now prone on the floor, her eyes rolling back in her head. Kaitlynn handed the pen to the doctor, who quickly exposed the needle and shoved it into Tahira's arm.

Ariana watched all this as if it was happening in slow motion. Her plan was going up in smoke, with Kaitlynn lighting the fire beneath it. She couldn't breathe, couldn't move, couldn't feel a thing other than despair. The room started to blur around her, everyone moving in slow motion.

Why? Why was Kaitlynn doing this? The girl had been about to get exactly what she wanted. Ariana knew that Tahira's friendship couldn't mean that much to her. No one had ever meant that much to Kaitlynn. So what the hell was she doing?

Soon Tahira was breathing again. Rob and Zuri carefully helped her sit up. She held her throat, which was undoubtedly strained from all the choking.

"Are you okay?" Rob asked.

Tahira nodded. "What happened?" she croaked.

"This young lady here saved your life," the doctor said, gesturing up at Kaitlynn. "She found an EpiPen just in time."

With Zuri and Rob's help, Tahira struggled to her feet. Then she threw

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herself at Kaidynn, clinging to her with her arms around her neck.

"Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you," she croaked.

Everyone in the immediate vicinity started to applaud, and soon the whole room and its hundreds of revelers were cheering and clapping for Kaitlynn's achievement.

"Get that girl a drink!" someone shouted, earning laughter from the crowd.

"It was nothing," Kaitlynn replied modestly. "I have allergies too, so I always have one on me," she said, glancing meaningfully over at Ariana. "Anyone would have done the same."

Ariana finally breathed in. Interesting. So she hadn't done it so that she could tell everyone that Ariana had stolen Tahira's EpiPen.

"Come on," Rob said, putting his arm around Tahira's waist. "I think we should get you checked out."

"He's right. I'd like to gauge your blood pressure and make sure you're all right," the doctor said. "There's an emergency kit at the front."

Tahira had one arm around Rob's shoulders and the other around the doctor's as they passed by Ariana on their way to the door. Zuri scurried after them, holding both her purse and Tahira's. And Kaitlynn, who was trailed by a smattering of applause, brought up the rear. As she walked by Ariana, she lifted Ariana's wrist and slapped something into her hand. Then she smirked, and followed her friends.

Slowly, her fingers quaking, Ariana unfolded the scrap of black paper--Kaitlynn's task. It read, in silver lettering:

BE THE HERO. 225

NEXT

Ariana Osgood was at a loss. Her plan had failed, foiled by the very person for whom she had created said plan in the first place. Now, all she could think about was what Kaitlynn had said at the top of the stairs during their tour of the embassy.

What happens next is on you.

What was going to happen next? As of this moment, Ariana had no idea. And that thought terrified her more than anything.

She stood near the wall of the ballroom, watching Kaitlynn as she chatted and laughed with Tahira, Zuri, and Allison, who were now solidified for life as her bestest best friends.

Be the hero, Ariana thought. What would Kaitlynn have done if Ariana hadn't tried to take out Tahira? If Ariana had tossed the EpiPen? Probably put Ariana in some kind of mortal danger and then saved her at the last minute. Or someone else. They were all just pawns in the girl's sadistic game.

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Kaitlynn laughed at something Tahira said, and Ariana's eyes narrowed. The real question was, what was the girl thinking? How was she going to create a spot for herself in Stone and Grave? What sort of plan was percolating in that distorted little mind of hers?

"Hey."

Palmer's breath on her bare shoulder sent a pleasant shot of warmth down her spine, totally incongruous with the cold fear that permeated every other inch of her.

"Hey," she replied, standing up straight and trying to smile.

"Apparently I missed some serious drama," Palmer said, taking a sip of his drink, some sort of dark brown liquid. Ariana eyed it with interest. Perhaps it was time for her to get silly drunk. To just let herself go and let whatever was going to happen, happen. Her brain was starting to hurt from the strain of trying to protect everyone. Of trying to make sense of a senseless psycho.

"Yeah. Lily saved the day," Ariana said airily. "No wonder you can't seem to stop flirting with her."

Palmer looked down at his feet, chagrined. "Not by choice."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ariana asked, tearing her gaze from Kaitlynn for just a moment.

"She's always coming up to me," he said, finishing his drink and placing the tumbler on the empty tray of a passing waiter. "And yeah, maybe I don't spend too much effort fighting her off, but there's a chance that I'm just hoping to make you jealous."

Ariana's eyebrows arched. "Really?"

"Is it working?" Palmer asked with a grin.

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Ariana took in a breath, let it go, and sank against Palmer's strong chest. She was done. Exhausted. Sick of keeping up appearances on top of everything else. At the moment, for just one moment, she really just needed a hug. The feeling of a pair of strong, reassuring arms holding her. Letting her know that everything was going to work out in the end.

"Whoa," Palmer said, circling his arms around her. She closed her eyes and cuddled into his warmth. "What's this? What about flying under the radar?"

"Lexa's happy with Connie," Ariana replied. "I don't see why I don't get to be happy too."

"Finally got through to you, huh?" Palmer joked, brushing a stray lock of hair back from her face, tickling her cheek.

"I guess you did," she replied.

"No worries," Palmer said. "Lexa's not around anyway. I haven't seen her since before the big near--death scene, actually."

Ariana's heart careened to a screeching stop. Her eyes popped open. Lexa was missing? Missing before Tahira was saved by the one person who wanted to create a hole in the secret society?

"I bet she and Conrad are off hooking up in one of the upstairs rooms," Palmer whispered, moving his hands up to cup her cheeks. "In fact, maybe we could go find a room of our own."